Refererred to as “the world’s oldest profession”, prostitution was never embraced by the society throughout history, although it endured all the scorn and prohibition. Having alternating periods of tolerance and repression in its history, prostitution in Paris has existed since almost time itself.
Illegal in France for centuries, it was Louis XI that shifted the status of prostitution slightly higher by showing them some more tolerance, although what he did was pushing the women and bordellos to the city borders so that the virtuous wives and their pure children wouldn’t be affected by their “moral contaminations”.
With a significant shift in the status quo, prostitution got legalized during the Napoleonic Era (1799-1815). Napoleon, believing that prostitution was a social necessity, started some reforms which were the bases of the flourishing era of brothels, the “Maison de Tolérance” (“houses of tolerance”). In 1904, Napoleon ordered that all “Maisons Closes” (“closed houses,” so named because their shutters were sealed at all hours, day and night) be registered with the city, ran by a woman and for the prostitutes to have medical examination, twice a week.
The points in this action were, of course, multiple and socially significant. First of all, creating such houses would empty the streets of prostitutes and give the city some sense of a proper, virtuous, moral, urban vibe. Located inside the city but usually away from sacred places and schools (with exceptions we’ll look into), the brothels could mingle into the landscape with their shutters always closed, and be noticed only by very careful eyes. The other, and actually the main reason for these legislations was simple and deadly: syphilis. The venereal disease of its time, with syphilis it was like Russian roulette to go to a brothel for an evening of pleasure. To avoid having more upper-class men being swept away because of syphilis, bi-weekly health examinations for all prostitutes were mandatory.
Like many other beautiful things in Europe, WW2 ended the golden era of brothels, notably after the German Occupation (when the most glorious Maisons Closes became the favourite places of Nazi officers). During the war the brothels had spread incredibly (with some serving specifically to the German soldiers!) and some closed their eyes to the national and political views of their guests to make the business run smoothly. After the war, these brothels were accused of collaboration. As political punishment, some prostitutes had their heads shaved and were publicly shamed.
Marthe Richard, a town councillor and former prostitute, petititoned for the closure of all brothels and “the law of Marthe Richard” was passed on 13th April 1946, closing all legal brothels in France.
Approximately 1,400 houses were closed and roughly 20,000 women affected.
During the Belle Époque
The belle époque (“beautiful era”, from 1880 to 1914) was when Paris established itself as a flourishing center for its arts and beauty. (It should be noted that the era has been named long time after it ended and the glory of its name carries the yearning of the ones who named it; contrasting the terrible four years of its following World War I, these forty years were seen as if they purely carried an aura of optimism, economic strength, permissiveness and simply high style, which were not absent qualities but it wasn’t as perfect as it’s told to be – probably except for the sex, timeless.) Sex was everywhere in the world and in France too, but it was high-class in Paris.
With its fame earned by the prostitutes, called les cocottes or les horizontales, Paris witnessed a sex trade control that had been unheard of in other countries at the time. Women carrying venereal diseases got noticed quite quickly, thus providing more safety for the clients. The most luxurious maisons closes became internationally famous for the strong theatrical attitude of their workers, their artworks donated by famous artists and designed fantasy rooms, catering as many preferences as possible (a page on this blog is dedicated to the prominent examples of these brothels). The architecture of the brothels were astounding, since they were usual and invisible from the street with the inside structure of an erotic funhouse. Small-range labyrinths, hidden paths, two way mirrors for endless possibilities — everything was made so that a visitor could see everything he wanted to see and never be seen.
Men, aside from being voyeurs and having sex, also did business in bordellos; creating partnerships, networking and sealing agreements in the secrecy of bordello salons were not rare occurrences. Some high-class bordellos became known for the business circle they hosted, as well as the taste of their wine and the girls.
Basically, what happened with 224 legal brothels, bi-weekly medical inspections and famous, lavish maisons closes, was that the heyday of brothels begun with a tinge of culture unique to it.
Meanwhile on another level, Paris, not denying its strong connections to erotica and sex, had streets carrying suggestive names, like:
- Rue de la Pute-y-Muse (Stroll-Whore Street – now Rue du Petit Musc)
- Rue Gratte-Cul (Scrub-Ass Street – now rue Dussoubs)
- Rue Tire-Boudin (Fat-Lump-Laid street – now rue Mary Stuart).
Unfortunately, these all ended. The Belle Époque vanished in 1946, when brothels have been prohibited, and a public auction sold almost all the furniture on October 30th.
the Pretty Chicks 